Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi entered Thursday's game against Colorado with five goals apiece, good enough for second place among the Wild's forwards but not close to the NHL leaders. Mikko Koivu, the team captain who centers them on the No. 1 line, had one goal.

That's a good sign, said ESPN/NHL Network analyst Barry Melrose. Though Minnesota is still waiting for its stars to heat up, the team is ranked second in the Western Conference with an 11-5-3 record.

"They're doing it without Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu and Devin Setoguchi," Melrose said. "It's not like their star players are having unbelievable years. The main thing has probably been great goaltending, especially lately. They're not having to score five, six goals to win. So if you start to get scoring from those names I mentioned, and the goaltending continues on or near to that level, this is definitely a playoff team."

Coach Mike Yeo wouldn't agree that his team is winning "without" its scorers. He said Wednesday that part of the reason why Minnesota continues to play well is the fact that despite pressure to score, none of those three players has strayed from the game plan.

"If you start to cheat, start to lose your focus on the defensive side of the puck or start to force plays, maybe it works one of five times," Yeo said. "But the four times it doesn't, are you putting yourself in a bad position? I know their offense; I know things will get better for them.

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But what I like from those guys is they're not taking away from the foundation of the team by cheating."

Setoguchi and Heatley are on pace score 23 goals, way below their usual paces.

"Heatley should be able to score 30 goals in his sleep, and he's playing with good guys," Melrose said. "Same with Setoguchi. He just works so hard, and he shoots a lot, so I can't see a tailspin where he's not scoring 25-30 goals. And Koivu - same thing. I just think he's a hell of a player. Koivu obviously is going to have more than five goals at the end of the year."

Concussion for Zidlicky: Defenseman Marek Zidlicky joined teammates Guillaume Latendresse and Marco Scandella on the injured list with a concussion. Zidlicky suffered the injury on an open-ice hit during a 4-2 victory Tuesday at Columbus.

Yeo said all three players are "day to day," though Latendresse, who missed his fourth straight game Thursday, isn't even working out. Scandella, who missed his third game, was in the press box watching the game.

Briefly: Defenseman Kris Fredheim, 24, made his NHL debut Thursday, one day after signing his first NHL contract, a two-way deal between the Wild and their AHL affiliate in Houston.

-- Defenseman Nick Schultz played the 700th game of his career, by far the most any player wearing a Wild jersey. Marian Gaborik ranks second with 502.